


Peril

by quinnfabs



Series: Friendship Writing Challenge [20]
Category: Glee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-12
Updated: 2015-04-12
Packaged: 2018-03-22 13:44:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3731083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quinnfabs/pseuds/quinnfabs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kurt has an emergency and Artie begrudgingly helps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peril

Artie’s working on a huge report for a class and he knows that he shouldn’t have procrastinated as much as he did but at this point there’s nothing else to do but  _work._ So he tells all his friends that they are not allowed to bother him under any circumstances unless something truly awful happens and they need to reach him. He tells them this many times, because for some reason all of his friends are incredibly dramatic and don’t understand what  _don’t bother me_ means.

He  _especially_ tells Blaine this, because even though the guy is wonderful his idea of peril tends to be when he runs out of hair gel.

So, anyway, he’s working on his project, diligent as ever, making amazing progress, if he says so himself when he hears his phone ring.

He stops and stares at, hoping that he can get it to stop ringing by sheer will. He doesn’t want to pick up, he’s almost positive that it’s Sam calling to ask about how to fix his computer or something equally idiotic. Like the time Sam thought he had a virus and he actually tried to  _delete_ the internet. Basically, his friends are the worst and he hates them.

But then his mind jumps to the time that Kurt was in the hospital. He found out about that from a phone call just like this one. He sobers up immediately, the prospect of something like that happening again sending quick bursts of nerves through him. He doesn’t know what he would do, how he would feel, if he found out if someone he cares about got hurt and he was too busy working on this horrible project to care to pick up the damn phone. After everything, the thought alone is too painful, too much.

So he picks up the phone with his sweaty fingers and his heart beating faster. “Hello?” he asks, warily.

“It’s Kurt. Does your TV work?”

“What?” Artie asks, the question not quite registering with how nervous he had been.

“I need to know if your TV works. Ours doesn’t and it’s the Project Runway finale and I _really_ need to know who wins.”

“Kurt! I’m working on a report that could make or break my grade and I  _told_ you this, multiple times, only call if something bad happens! Do you have any idea what I’ve been going through?” he asks, annoyed.

Kurt has the decency to sound ashamed when he says, “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking about that.”

Artie was never good at holding a grudge and he doesn’t have the heart to stay angry while Kurt sounds so contrite, so he says, with a laugh “You calling because of the fact that your TV doesn’t work really does  _not_  count as peril, Kurt.”

“I panicked! And I work at Vogue _,_ Artie!  _Everyone_ will be talking about it tomorrow. So, this basically counts as work.”

“You’re ridiculous. Can’t you just watch a livestream or something?”

And Kurt has never sounded so disgusted with him, when he cries “A  _livestream?_ How  _dare_ you! The buffering and the awful quality, it makes me shudder just thinking about it.”

“You are so pretentious, oh my god.”

“Artie. Please.”

“Kurt, any other day, you  _know_ that I would help. But I really do have to work on this project.”

“I promise I’ll be really quiet. I’ll keep all my commentary to a bare minimum.” Kurt says, earnestly.

Artie still isn’t convinced though, but then Kurt wheedles, “I’ll make you your favorite cookies.”

And Artie thinks, it’s honestly not  _that_ big of a project he’s working on. Kurt’s white chocolate macadamia cookies are actually the best thing he’s ever eaten and he might sell his soul for them one day, so he blames his stomach when he responds, “Yeah, sure Kurt. Anything for a friend.”

He can basically hear Kurt’s sly grin when he says, “Thanks, man. I’ll be there soon!”

Yeah, Artie’s a weak man, but  _cookies,_ and honestly, how bad can Kurt watching a little show, really be?

Pretty bad, it turns out, when Kurt gets there a little later and immediately pushes his way into Artie’s dorm, turning on the TV. “Ugh, thank god I only missed a few minutes.” He says.

“Hello, Kurt. Come in, make yourself at home.” Artie says, sarcastically.

“There is no need to be rude. Think of this as revenge for destroying my kitchen.”

Artie grumbles, because yeah, that was pretty bad, and now he has no leverage.

He goes back to his laptop and back to typing, at this point he’s just glad he’s getting any words on the page at all. He would put his headphones in and listen to some music but every time he does that he gets distracted and starts to sing himself. Oh, the struggle of being talented.

So he’s typing merrily along, making pretty decent progress when he hears a muffled shout and, “How dare you call that fabric extravagant! It looks like an actual curtain from the 60s, oh my god.”

So much for keeping his commentary to a minimum, Artie thinks. It’s a little shocking how invested Kurt gets into his shows, he seems like the kind of guy who’d be super nonchalant about it. But nope, not at all.

It goes back to silence again, and Artie breathes in deeply, starts to finish up his thought.

But a few moments later, when Kurt cries out “There is  _no_  way in hell anyone would  _ever_ wear that dress, I don’t know what these judges are thinking!” Artie’s a little curious. He’s seen Kurt wear countless turtlenecks and all kinds of eccentric patterns so if  _he’s_ saying the dress is strange, well, in that case, the dress is worth taking a look at.

So Artie hits save and looks over at the TV and  _damn_ that is a weird dress. He exclaims, “You’re telling me the judges like this?”

“I know right? It’s like a sea monster got swallowed by a shark and then was spit out immediately for being too repulsive.”

But somehow, the next look manages to be  _even worse._ The designer chose to use the absolute worst color combination he’s ever seen. He glances over at Kurt, who looks like he’s going to cry.

“I mean honestly, they expect us to believe that these are the  _top 3?_ How did they even get so far?” Artie asks, shaking his head.

“Hell if I know. This show  _sucks.”_

“Damn straight. Wait hold up, did you see that judge just roll her eyes?”

Kurt nods, “Yup. The drama keeps me young.”

—

“I can’t believe that the sea monster dress actually won.” Artie groans, genuinely distressed.

“I’m not surprised. They always pick the worst ones and call it  _edgy._ It’s so annoying and I should be used to it by now.” Kurt remarks, his voice dripped with pure disgust.

Artie looks over sadly at the clock and thinks about all the time he could have spent working on his report if he didn’t get distracted by Project Runway.

All he can think is, Kurt better make  _multiple_  batches of those cookies for the rest of his life to make up for this.


End file.
